Football's Costly Turnovers

College coaches often have the biggest houses in town—and they need to move frequently. The result? Plenty on the market for the buyer who wants a home with a putting green, wet bar and stuffed alligator head.

By

Nancy Keates

Updated Oct. 12, 2012 1:41 p.m. ET

When Urban Meyer quit as head football coach of the University of Florida in 2010, he left behind more than his two championship trophies: He and his wife, Shelley, are still trying to sell their six-bedroom, 5½-bathroom, 6,800-square-foot home in Gainesville, Fla.

Photos: The Coach Market

When Urban Meyer quit as head football coach of the University of Florida in 2010, he left behind more than his two championship trophies: He and his wife, Shelley, are still trying to sell this six-bedroom, 5½-bathroom, 6,800-square-foot home in Gainesville, Fla. Todd Shealy/ Focus Real Estate Group

College coaches often have the biggest houses in town-but they move frequently. The result? Homes for the buyer who wants a putting green, wet bar and stuffed alligator head. Beth DeCarbo explains on Lunch Break. Photo Courtesy: Brandon Sullivan.

Listed for $1.7 million in February, the house comes with some unique features—and some unique selling challenges. There's a sand volleyball court out back, and what Mrs. Meyer calls a "ginormous" family room, built to accommodate a full house of extra-large players. Because Coach Meyer, now at Ohio State University in Columbus, still has ardent local fans, real-estate agents have to screen potential buyers to filter out overzealous gawkers.

The biggest challenge: selling a $1.7 million house in Gainesville, where the average home sells for about $149,000. No homes over $1 million have sold so far there this year, according to real-estate research firm RealtyTrac.

Among the stats racked up by college-football coaches over their careers are numerous homes bought and sold. Sometimes they move to take a better job at a bigger program. Other times, they're sacked after a disappointing season. In a sport where the average tenure of a head coach is 5.1 years, many real-estate transactions occur unexpectedly and at the last minute.

"If you win, you move, and if you lose, you move," says Terry Saban, wife of Nick Saban, head coach of No. 1-ranked Alabama. "You like to be positive and have faith, but you can't help but think about the next move." (Ms. Saban says Alabama is their "last stop.")

Videos of More Mansions

Making the process harder is the fact that college coaches tend to have big homes—often the biggest in their college towns. The head coach's house is a campus attraction, used to entertain players, recruits, alumni and boosters. That means swimming pools, putting greens, basketball courts, rec rooms, home theaters and large wet bars.

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Hugh Freeze and his wife Jill just bought a five-bedroom home in Oxford, Miss.
Brandon Dill for The Wall Street Journal

When Rich Rodriguez and his wife, Rita, moved to an 8,500-square-foot, five-bedroom home in Saline, Mich., where they lived when Mr. Rodriguez was head coach at the University of Michigan, they had to make sure the rocks next to the swimming pool could hold the weight of football players. "If there are rocks, they'll jump off them," Mrs. Rodriguez says.

They listed the Saline home after Mr. Rodriguez was named head coach at the University of Arizona. It took about nine months to close at $1.3 million, about $200,000 less than they bought it for in 2007. Mrs. Rodriguez says she looks at the loss as part of the cost of having a house meant for entertaining. "You want to be able to feel you've done everything you can do to make the program successful," she says. They now live in a 8,900-square-foot home in Tucson, Ariz.

After former Arkansas Razorbacks coach Bobby Petrino was fired in April, he took a $550,000 loss on his Fayetteville, Ark., home. The 8,740-square-foot house, with six bedrooms, six full bathrooms, a bar, a wine cellar, a butler's pantry, an outdoor kitchen, a putting green and a batting cage, all on 2 acres, went for $1.7 million in June.

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Family room in the home of Rich Rodriguez, head coach at the University of Arizona. The spaces are designed for entertaining, since college coaches in general often host boosters, players, recruits and recruits' families.
Brandon Sullivan for The Wall Street Journal

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Inside the home of Rich Rodriguez
Brandon Sullivan for The Wall Street Journal

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'You want to be able to feel you've done everything you can do to make the program successful,' Ms. Rodriguez says.
Brandon Sullivan for The Wall Street Journal

Recently fired University of Illinois head coach Ron Zook has a 6,000-square-foot house he is trying to sell in Champaign, Ill. With five bedrooms and five walk-in closets (so recruits and their parents would be comfortable when staying overnight), the house has an oversize wet bar and entertainment center with plush theater seating. The home has been on the market for seven months, its price reduced $26,000 to $799,000. Mr. Zook's house also features Florida Gators memorabilia: a large, stuffed alligator head. He hasn't been the coach at the University of Florida since he was fired in 2004, but the taxidermy trophy head sits in the office of the Champaign home.

Mr. Zook and his wife, Denise, have built 13 homes in their 31-year marriage, moving every two or three years over the course of his career. But, he says, "as a coach, you want a place you can call home. You buy or build a house with resale in mind, but it still has to be home." He's now working for CBS Sports and living in a house he built in Lake Weir, Fla.

While Mrs. Meyer says she prefers to buy, not build, she wasn't able to find a place in Gainesville appropriate for all the entertaining they do, one with an open floor plan and enough space inside and out. She also wanted to be in a gated community to ward off fans who like to drive by and scream into their security box. The house took a year to complete.

At one point the online real-estate photos of the Meyers's house showed a room with a large turquoise-and-orange Gators rug. That's gone now, moved with the Urbans to the house they recently bought in Columbus, Ohio. "We can't put it out because it would make all the Buckeye fans mad," Mrs. Meyer says.

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Nick Saban, coach at the University of Alabama, pictured here, and his wife Terry are trying to sell a house they built in Lake Burton, Ga.
Getty Images

A coach's house on the market can fuel speculation he's on his way out. That's what happened when Cal coach Jeff Tedford's 2-acre, 8,900-square-foot estate—with a game room, a home theater, a wine-tasting room and a basketball court done up in UC Berkeley colors—was listed for $5.4 million last month. Mr. Tedford, who has been the head coach at Cal for a decade, had actually tried to sell the house in 2010: It sat on the market for a year at the same price before he took it off the market.

Nick and Terry Saban are trying to sell a spec house they built in Lake Burton, Ga. They intended to use the lot for their family, but changed their minds after a different lot became available. Priced at $10.95 million, it is 10,000 square feet, with six bedrooms and nine baths. Its massive grand room has a 24-foot vaulted ceiling. The wine cellar features antique gates from Barcelona; elsewhere there is a European-style pub, a billiards room, a home office, formal and professional kitchens, staff quarters and a four-car garage. There is also a boat house with a deck and a swimming dock.

Michigan Home

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The couple moved to Arizona from Saline, Mich., after Mr. Rodriguez lost his coaching job at the University of Michigan.
Brandon Sullivan for The Wall Street Journal

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The Saline residence took about nine months to sell at $1.3 million, about $200,000 less than they bought it for in 2007.
JoAnn Barrett

Real-estate agents say there is a narrow band of prospective buyers for these highly customized houses: a middle-age or older couple with extended families who like to visit, or high-level executives who entertain a lot.

JoAnn Barrett, the agent in Ann Arbor, Mich., who sold Mr. Rodriguez's house, took photos strategically to avoid showing too much sports memorabilia. And she asked her clients to get rid of the especially big furniture, since "big furniture makes houses look smaller."

There is a reason the furniture is so big. It's "perfect for recruits and players to come out," explains Houston Nutt, who was head coach at the University of Mississippi until last year. He currently has two Oxford, Miss., homes on the market: One where he and his wife live (a five-bedroom, 6½-bathroom home on 30 acres with an in-ground pool and a waterfall), priced at $1.6 million; and, next door, a lodge-style house where his kids lived on nearly 136 acres with a barn for their nine horses that is for sale for $1.3 million. Both properties are on a 45-acre lake.

Hugh Freeze, who just became head coach at Ole Miss, says he has one piece of advice: rent. Not that he's following his own advice. Though he and his wife, Jill, did rent at their last stop—two years at Arkansas—they just bought a new house in Oxford. It isn't too far from the "dream house" they built the first time they were in Oxford, when he was an assistant coach from 2005 to 2007, and which took them nine months to sell when they left. His new house is on a lake a little out of town: the perfect place to retire.

Home Turf

College coaches who have recently listed or sold their homes

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Exterior of Urban Meyer
Todd Shealy/ Focus Real Estate Group

1.Urban Meyer

Gainesville, Fla. $1.7 million

The 6,800-square-foot, custom-built home has an open floor plan; it's located in a gated community on a 2-acre lot. The home has six bedrooms, 5½ bathrooms, a sand volleyball court, a wet bar and a swimming pool.

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Nick Saban's Home
Julie Barnett

2. Nick Saban

Lake Burton, Ga. $10.95 million

The 10,000-square-foot home, with six bedrooms and nine bathrooms, has a massive grand room with a 24-foot vaulted ceiling. Other features include a European-style custom-built pub, a billiards room and a boat house with a swimming dock.

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Bobby Petrino
Reuters

3. Bobby Petrino

Fayetteville, Ark. $1.7 million

Sold in June, this 8,740-square-foot house has six bedrooms and six full bathrooms. For entertaining, there's a bar, wine cellar, butler's pantry and outdoor kitchen. A putting green and batting cage are also included with the 2-acre property

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Living room of the recently purchased Tucson, Ariz. home of University of Arizona's head football coach Rich Rodriguez
JoAnn Barrett

4. Rich Rodriguez

Saline, Mich. $1.3 million

It took about nine months to close on the 8,500- square-foot house. It has five bedrooms, five bathrooms and a three-car garage. Before moving in, the couple made sure that rocks by the pool could support the weight of a football player.

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Ron Zook home
Chantelle Houg/Meredith Ramshaw

5. Ron Zook

Champaign, Ill. $799,000

The custom-built 6,000-square-foot house has five bedrooms and five walk-in closets (so recruits and their parents would be comfortable when staying overnight). There's an oversize wet bar and entertainment center with plush theater seating.

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Home of Jeff Tedford
Pictometry

6. Jeff Tedford

Danville, Calif. $5.4 million

The 8,900-square-foot house has five bedrooms and six bathrooms (two partial). The home sits on 2 acres and features a game room, home theater and wine-tasting room. First listed in 2010 but didn't sell. Relisted in September.

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Houston Nutt home near Oxford, Miss.
Steve Jones for The Wall Street Journal

7. Houston Nutt

Oxford, Miss. $1.6 million and $1.3 million

Mr. Nutt and his wife live in a five-bedroom, 6½- bathroom home on 30 acres. Next door, a lodgestyle house is where their kids lived; game room shown above. It sits on nearly 136 acres with a barn for their horses. Both homes are on a 45-acre lake. Online>> See more photos of coaches' homes at at WSJ.com/Mansion. T

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